Iran has begun building 155mm howitzer cannon as part of efforts to become self-sufficient in arms manufacture, reported the Iranian News Agency (IRNA).
The lightweight self-propelled cannon has a range of 30 kilometers and can fire four rounds a minute, a senior defense ministry official told the agency.
Meanwhile, a top US military commander warned Wednesday that Iran is expected to spend up to seven billion dollars on modernizing its armed forces in the next several years and is likely to emerge as a "major" conventional power in the Gulf region, said AFP.
"There are indications that Iran will pursue, over the next number of years, perhaps six or seven billion dollars' worth of conventional weapons systems," General Tommy Franks, head of the US Central Command, told the Armed Services Committee of the House of Representatives.
He said Tehran was expected to upgrade its air defenses, buy more fighter jets like the SU-24, SU-27 and perhaps MiG-29 from Russia, as well as modernize its navy, including its submarine force.
"And so on the conventional side, Iran as a major, conventional military force, is perceived as threatening in the region," AFP quoted Franks as saying.
He said Iran remained the holder of "the largest chemical weapons stockpile" in the area covered by the US Central Command, which stretches from the Horn of Africa all the way to Central Asia.
But while assuring members of Congress of his readiness to ensure "vital and enduring" US interests in the region, Franks expressed concern that efforts by the Iranian government to expand and modernize its missile arsenal could eventually increase the threat to US forces, according to the agency.
"We see continuing evidence of a desire to -- I guess I would say, in quotes, 'perfect' the Shahab-3 by the Iranians, and, in fact, the potential to move beyond that to a Shahab-4 sort of a system," he said.
The Shahab-3, which has a range of 1,300 kilometers (800 miles), is a version of the North Korean missile Nodong-1 upgraded with Russian components, US military experts said -- Albawaba.com
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